Feeder pile control



NOV. 3, 1942. E DUDLEY 2,300,657

FEEDER'PILE CONTROL v Fi1ed Dec. 18, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

' 1 E. F. DUDLEY 2,300,657

' FEEDER PILE CONTROL Filed Dec. 18, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet? NOV. 3, 1942.D Y 2,3005657 FEEDER FILE CONTROL Filed Dex 18, 1940 3 Sheets-Shee't 3 vINVENTOR. iczwardffiadlqg,

4/;4g1Wv Patented Nov. 3, 1942 aaoae'sv FEEDER rim CONTROL Edward F.Dudley, Oak Park, 111., assignor to The Miehle Printing Press &Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of IllinoisApplication December 18, 1940, Serial No. 370,620

3 Claims.

This invention pertains to feeder pile controlling mechanism and it moreparticularly concerns that class of sheet feeding devices in whichseparated sheets are fed in succession from a pile of sheets to aregistering or sheet transfer table.

A printing press which includes sheet feeding mechanism of the classreferred to is illustrated and described, for example, in U. S. LettersPatent No. 1,567,177, issued to E. Cheshire, December 29, 1925, whichtype of press is generally known in the trade as the vertical press.According to the disclosure of said patent, the sheets are separatedfrom the feeder pile by means of air blasts and separator shoes and,thereupon, the sheets are forwarded and deposited onto a transfer tableby means of oscillating feeder arms. The feeding motion upwardly andtoward the sheet separating means is imparted to the feeder pile supportby means of a ratchet mechanism which is intermittently actuated by theoscillating feeder arms. The blower tubes, whereby the uppermost sheetson the pile are fluffed in order to facilitate their separation from thepile, are arranged along the forward edge of the pile, preferably oneadjacent each of the corners and one blower tube intermediate suchcorners.

In the operation of the Cheshire pile control, where there is noprovision made for positively holding the feed ratchet in the positionto which it is being advanced intermittently in order to maintain thetop of the pile at the required level with relation to the sheetseparating members, it frequently happens that the ratchet mechanismfails to perform its intended function. Consequently, the feeder piletable remains in'the same position instead of being raisedintermittently, and eventually the top of the pile assumes such a lowlevel that the sheet separating and forwarding means cannot reach thetop sheet and, therefore, the sheets remain on the pile. Such acondition, which prevails mostly when the feeder pile table is loaded toits capacity with maximum size sheet, should of course be avoided.

Furthermore, in said Cheshire arrangement, not any of the blower tubes,whereby the sheets are fluffed, can be adjusted while the press is inoperation. The desirability of means whereby such adjustment can beaccomplished, therefore, also is evident.

The object of my present invention primarily is to provide improvedmechanism whereby the feeder pile actuating means is more positivelycontrolled than in earlier arrangements such as disclosed, for example,in said Cheshire patent.

Another salient object of my invention resides in the provision of meanswhereby at least one of the blower tubes, by means of which the sheetson the pile are fiuffed, may be readily adjusted with relation to thetop of a pile and while the 5 press is in operation.

Other objects of importance shall be set forth herein and becomeapparent from the following description, appended claims, andaccompanying drawings, in which drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary front elevation depicting the feeder end of avertical printing press and showing the feeder pile control, inclusiveof the means whereby a blower tube can be adjusted while the press isrunning;

Figure 2 illustrates the same parts but in fragmentary side elevation;

Figure 3 represents a sectional view at an enlarged scale of the ratchetmechanism taken along line III -III of Figure 1, and

ing the parts in different positions.

Dealing first with that part of the mechanism which controls the heightof the feeder pile support, and having reference to Figure 1, the feederframe ill is provided with brackets II and [2,- the outer ends of whichare bored in order to provide bearings l3 and M in which is journaledthe feeder arm rock shaft 15.

s This shaft is located intermediate the press proper and the feederand, at its free ends, it carries oscillatory feeder arms l6 and I!which may be actuated by any suitable means, such as a cam driven by thepower means of the press. Said two arms are rigidly clamped to the shaftI5 so that the shaft, during the oscillatory movement of the arms, willbe rocked about its axis.

A feeder ratchet sleeve I8 is arranged on the shaft l5 so that it canfreely rotate thereon, and

one end of the sleeve carries a bevel pinion l9 which meshes with acomplementary bevel pinion 2B. To the other end of the sleeve [8 issecured a ratchet wheel 2| with which, as more clearly illustrated inFigure 3, a pawl 22 cooperates in order to intermittently engage theteeth of the ratchet and to thereby rotate it during the rockingmovement of the shaft I5 in the counterclockwise direction occasioned bythe oscillatory movement of said feeder arms in that direction.Referring specifically to Figures 3 and 4, it will be seen that the pawl22 is pivoted to a bracket 23 at 24, which bracket is rigidly mounted onthe shaft [5 in order to rock with it. A rock shaft 25 is journaled inthe bracket H and carries at its outer end. a lever arm 26 and atitsinner end a looking latch actuating lever 21. The latter has Figure 4 isa view similar to Figure 3 but showthreaded into its free end a setscrew 28 which intermittently engages a latch 29 also pivotally mountedon the bracket 23 and provided for the purpose of locking the pawl 22against engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 2| when upwardmovement of the feeder pile support is not required. For that purpose, anotch 32 is formed in the pawl.

In the position of the parts illustrated in Figure 3, the set screw 28has engaged the latch 29 and has swung it about its pivot 3| and out ofits locking relation with the notch 39 of the pawl 22, so that thelatter is free to drop into a tooth space of the ratchet 2|, and uponthe subsequent oscillatory movement of the arm IS in thecounterclockwise direction the pawl engages a tooth and advances thewheel 2| in the same direction through an angle corresponding with theextent of oscillatory movement of said feeder arm.

The pawl 22 is urged toward the ratchet wheel, preferably by means of aleaf spring 35 which may be secured to bracket 23 in any suitablemanner, and the latch 29 is held in looking relation with the notch 30,preferably by means of a tension coil spring 36, as shown in Figure 4.

To a boss 37, provided on the feeder arm I6, is pivoted a bell cranklever 39, the arm 39 of which preferably carries a roller 49 which isadapted to move into engagement with the lever arm 26 at the end of anoscillatory movement of the arm l5 in the clockwise direction to therebydisengage the latch 29 from the pawl 22, as shown in Figure 3, in theevent that the feeder pile has to be raised for the purpose ofmaintaining its required level. To the arm 4| of the bell crank lever 38is linked a connecting rod 42, the outer end of which is pivoted to anarm on the separator frame member 43, which is mounted to rock about itspivots arranged in the free ends of the feeder arms I6 and H, andcarries the suction shoes 44 for separating the sheets.

Reverting to Figure 2, the bevel pinion 29 is secured to the outer endof a drive shaft 45 which is journaled in bearing brackets 46 and 41 andthe inner end of which shaft carries a worm 48. The latter meshes with aworm wheel 49 carried by a stud 59 which is journaled in the bracket 4'!and has also provided thereon a pinion 5| which meshes with a verticallyarranged rack bar 52, the upper end of which carries the feeder pilesupporting table 53 on which the pile of sheets 54 rests.

Preferably, as indicated in Figure 1, two rack bars 52 are provided, andconsequently the stud 59, see Figure 2, carries a pinion 5| at each ofits ends to mesh with the respective rack bar.

The mechanism so far described functions as follows: Assuming that thefeeding condition is such that the pile 54 requires to be raised, thearm 39, see Figure 3, is permitted to move down sufficiently far toengage the arm 26 and pivot the lever 21 in the clockwise direction andthereby to cause the latch 29 to free the pawl 22 at the end of thestroke of the arm IS in the clockwise direction. Consequently, the pawlengages a tooth of the ratchet wheel 2| so that during the stroke of thearm IS in the counterclockwise direction said wheel and therewith thesleeve I8 and the bevel pinion l9, see Figure l, are imparted a rotarymotion through a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction,as viewed in Figure 3.

Accordingly, the bevel pinion 29 and the worm 48 are rotated in theclockwise direction, the

worm transmitting rotary motion to the worm wheel 49 and pinion 5| inthe same direction, thereby raising the table 53 to a slight extentthrough the intermediary of the rack bar 52, see Figure 2.

For the purpose of rigidly holding the ratchet wheel 2| in the positionto which it has been moved by the pawl 22, during a feeding motion ofthe ratchet mechanism, I provide a leaf spring 55 of substantialthickness which is preferably secured to the feeder frame ID by means ofbolts 56, and which spring is so formed at its free end 51 that it shallengage a tooth space and stop against an adjacent tooth to therebyprevent any unintended rotary motion.

As will be readily understood, the upward movement of the pile table 53is dependent on the position of the suction separator shoes 44 which, asillustrated in Figure 2, are mounted on the frame member 43 to rocktherewith up and down about pivotal axis 43'. In that position the shoes44 have reached the top of the pile 54 and are about to grip theuppermost sheet in order to remove it from the pile and transfer it tothe press.

The arrangement show is conventional and corresponds in principle to themechanism commonly used on the vertical type of printing presses.

The frame member 43 is rocked through the intermediary of the rod 42 bycam or any other suitable means not shown, and the dipping movement ofsaid member and therewith of the separator shoes 44 is limited to apredetermined extent in any desirable manner. Preferably on theconnecting rod 42 is provided an adjustable collar 58 against whichbears a coil spring 58 which surrounds the rod 42 and is arranged tourge the latter upwardly to thereby move the separator shoes 44downwardly toward the top of the pile 54.

The position of the parts depicted in Figure 4 corresponds with theposition of the separator shoes 44 as shown in Figure 2, namely, the topof the pile is at its proper level and therefore the pawl 22 will clearthe teeth of the ratchet wheel 2| during the oscillatory movement of thearms I5 and consequently no movement will be imparted to the pile table.

However, after a certain number of sheets have been removed from thepile 54, so that the separator shoes 44 during their dipping motionreach a predetermined lowest position, then the parts of the ratchetmechanism will assume the positions illustrated in Figure 3, whichposition is initiated, as explained above, by a movement of the bellcrank lever 38 in the clockwise direction, thereby depressing the arm 26of the lever 21 and consequently disengaging the latch 29 from the notch30 of the pawl 22. Upon the oscillatory movement of the arm IS in thecounterclockwise direction the pawl 22 engages a tooth of the ratchetwheel 2| and will rotate the latter to thereby raise the pile table 53through the means described herein with reference to Figure 2.

I will now proceed to describe the means whereby convenient adjustmentof one or more of the blower tubes can be accomplished while the pressis running. For the purpose of simplicity, I have illustrated such meansas applied to one blower tube only.

The tube 69 which carries at its upper end a blower nozzle 6|, isslidably supported within a bore formed in the bracket 62. It is heldagainst rotation within said bore by means of a screw 63 threaded intothe bracket 62 and its inner end is formed with a pin 64 which extendsinto a longitudinal slot 65 cut into the wall of the tube 60. The innerend 66 of said tube is threaded into a worm wheel 61 which is free torotate within a bearing slot provided in the bracket 62.

In order to rotate said wheel, I provide a worm 68 to mesh with it andalso housed within the bracket 62, and which worm is carired at theinner end of a blower tube adjusting shaft 69 which is journaled in thebrackets 62 and and has secured to its outer, free end a hand wheel 1|.

It will be apparent therefore, that by turning the handwheel ll, whichis located at a point beyond the field of any operating parts, such asthe oscillatory arm H, the blower tube 60 can be conveniently adjusted,either up or down while the press is in operation.

Obviously, the objects of my invention could be accomplished bymechanism difiering in construction and function from the devicesillustrated and described herein; therefore, it is my intention to coverany such modifications that will come within the scope andinterpretation of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In feeder pile controlling mechanism for printing presses, avertically movable feeder pile support for the sheets to be printed, adrive for imparting movement to said support, whereby the same may beelevated, oscillating sheet carrying members for conveying sheets fromsaid support to the press, means including ratchet mechanism interposedbetween the sheet carrying members and said drive and adapted to operatesaid drive as a result of oscillation of the members in one direction tointermittently elevate said support, control means having operation torender the mechanism ineffective when the topv sheets on the feeder pilesupport are at a predetermined level, whereby continued oscillation ofthe sheet carrying members does not efiect elevating movement of saidsupport, and other means yieldingly holding the drive against actuationto thereby secure said support against any unintended movement. I

2. In feeder pile controlling mechanism for printing presses, avertically movable feeder pile support for the sheets to be printed, adrive for imparting movement to said support whereby the same may beelevated, oscillating sheet carrying members having suction shoes forconveying sheets from said support to the press, means forintermittently operating said drive to elevate the support including aratchet on the drive and a pawl for the ratchet having oscillation withthe sheet carrying members, a latch for rendering the pawl inefiective,and control means for said latch carried by the sheet conveying membersand having association with said suction shoes, said control meansactuating the, latch to render the pawl ineffective when the top sheetson the feeder pile support are at a predetermined level.

3. In a feeder pile controlling mechanism for printing presses, avertically movable feeder pile support for the sheets to be printed, adrive for imparting movement to said support whereby the same may beelevated, sheet separating means, air blast means for fiuffng theuppermost sheets in order to facilitate removal of sheets from the pileby said separating means, oscillating sheet carrying members forconveying sheets from said support to the press, means including ratchetmechanism interposed between the sheet carrying members and said driveand adapted to operate said drive as a result of oscillation of themembers in one direction to intermittently elevate said support, controlmeans for said ratchet mechanism having operation to render the sameinefiective when the top sheets on the feeder pile support are at apredetermined level, whereby the uppermost sheets of said pile on thesupport can be maintained in substantial alignment with said air blastmeans, and other means for adjusting the position of said air blastmeans while the press is in operation.

EDWARD F. DUDLEY.

